anyone got a unicorn we can chase?
You rang?
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It is possible the Grand Jury got it ârightâ (whatever that means), that Michael Brownâs killing was somehow a âjustifiable homicide.â
Iâm not saying thatâs the case! My sentiments run more along the lines of this article.
But given the suspension of disbelief for a moment, I still need to deal with the rage and anguish I feel about the Grand Juryâs decision.
I think it exposes (yet again) the differential treatment afforded to LEOs who commit violence, versus every other lesser being (and especially young men of color).
DAs have huge latitude in how to present a case to a Grand Jury, and the choices they make in exercising that latitude are telling.
Usually, a DA presents a choice subset of the evidence, the most likely to result in an indictment, that part which - in the absence of rebuttal - seems perfectly damning. They ask for a specific charge, and the jury rubber stamps their request.
In âhigh profileâ cases, the DA occasionally does what they ought to do every time. That is, present all of the evidence to the Grand Jury, including mitigating and exculpatory evidence, including evidence that goes to increase or decrease a witnessâ credibility.
But somehow, the cases against cops are nearly always presented âimpartiallyâ whereas the cases against every lesser being gets the rubber stamp treatment.
And once an indictment is handed down, we know that something north of 80% of all cases are resolved in a plea bargain. Most defendants are at the mercy of a Public Defender, who may be a passionate crusader for justice, but is more likely to be a massively overworked agent of the state whose role has been reduced to negotiating guilty pleas.
So even if (and thatâs a massive IF !) justice was served in this case, the larger injustice remains, but itâs diffuse, itâs not Michael Brown whose life resolved in a space of about 5 seconds for every year he had lived, itâs every person whose case didnât get an impartial presentation to the grand jury who is the victim.
Again, please note that I am NOT saying the Grand Jury got it âright,â only pondering what it would mean if they did.
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Try The Guardian, it has been my go-to news source for decades. Theyâve got a preliminary review of key documents, and a searchable document library.
At the very least, evidence or lack thereof, America has atrocious statistics for young black men being harmed and/or killed by police. Mike Brown may have been the devil incarnate (and honestly, I donât have an opinion in that regard), but that doesnât mean jack in the face of the regular level of violence felt by the African American community at the hands of the American justice system.
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Yes, if only those illogical African Americans would pick the right case to rally around. Maybe you should offer your help in picking that case, Iâm sure theyâd be thankful.
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With the assumption of guilt if the footage is unobtainable. Oh and when you have fucking tanks by any other name rolling down the street, donât fucking tell me you canât afford a few dozen gopros
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For that matter:
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Absolutely this. And, with the camera idea, put a camera on the barrel of the gun - set to record whenever it is drawn. That ought to be illuminating. Or, perhaps, cops will be less likely to draw their guns knowing they will be recorded.
Also @CeyxRau, youâre a special kind of douchecanoe arenât you? Thanks for (briefly) joining us.
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And how would that help forward the crass overgeneralizations and bigoted handwaving you were responding to?
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McCulloch cited âthe 24-hour news cycleâ and âsocial mediaâ as factors that made this situation worse. To that I present this counter-argument:
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In an unexpected - and probably unintentional - display of irony, Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County police, said:
âI donât think we can prevent folks who really are intent on destroying a community.â
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Ooh! Ooh! I know this one!
Itâs because nothing much had changed between 2014 and 2009 when this incident took place
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Just one bad apple, surely
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When we consider cops gunning down young black men to be the same as criminals gunning down young black men,
âŚI already do? Is that wrong?
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Yes. Any public official who says this garbage is an enemy of my democratic state. Fuck that guy. Get rid if him in the most humiliating way possible. Take his job, expose his donors and send this traitor to Moscow. Idaho. For a bleak exile.
Iâm not disagreeing with you that too many people get killed by trigger happy cops, but Iâm not sure the example youâve chosen is a great one as far as police abuse goes.
This is a picture of the âtoy gunâ that Tamir Rice pulled from his waistband instead of raising his hands when instructed to:
Pretty bloody realistic looking if you ask me. I have to imagine the copâs position in this case. If responding to a call about a person with a gun, and instead of following orders, this kid pulls something that from any distance other than very close inspection looks quite real, Iâd have to assume that it was real.
The potential consequences of assuming that itâs not real could be getting shot and killed yourself. When confronted with someone who reaches for what looks to be a ârealâ gun when told to put their hands up, the decision has to be made in a split second if this is a life or death situation, or if this is just a stupid kid being incredibly stupid. Obviously this officer made the incorrect split second decision, but one given the circumstances is quite understandable.
Thatâs a super shitty position to be in.
The article you linked to also noted that the officer wasnât told that the gun may or may not be real (so in his mind heâs responding to a âperson with firearmâ call, not âhey, figure out if this guyâs got a realistic toy gun or notâ call).
A very realistic appearing replica gun would be indistinguishable from a real one from a distance. This isnât a case of a cop shooting an unarmed person, or a cop shooting someone who pulls out a wallet when told to show identification, this is a case of a cop shooting someone who pulls a realistic appearing gun when told to put their hands up. I canât think of many better ways to commit âsuicide by copâ.
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For hunting there are already rifle scopes that record the shot from the view of the hunter, there is no reason similar technology could not be fitted on non-scoped handguns issued to police.
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They were referring to the multiple volleys Wilson said he fired at Brown, not the order of shots fired in the car vs. later shots fired outside the car. That they are certain of.
IIRC, the final distance from Wilson to Brownâs body has been stated at ~30 feet, which is reasonable for the hits he managed to get while both stressed and moving while shooting at an also-moving target. Released GJ testimony said Brownâs body was 133 feet from Wilsonâs vehicle (and he had gotten further and was coming back), so Wilson chased Brown for more than 103 feet, and was retreating as Brown advanced, to the point that he ended up ~103 feet away from his patrol vehicle.
14 hits on Brown doesnât sound right, although Iâd have to go find the autopsy reports to be sure. I think it was more like one hit in the hand (inside the car), and then 5 more hits outside the car. If 14 is an accurate number for anything, it would have been the total number of shots Wilson fired, most of which did not hit Brown (donât know which make & model of sidearm he was carrying, but 14 rounds was probably [close to] a full magazine, and nobody has claimed he reloaded.
I had not turned that sentence the way you appear to have, but I completely get your point.
has another sad
That incident, alone, makes every single statement from that police department and anybody in it (including Wilson) unreliable for me. I will not take anything they say at face value, and if a single witness disputes any of it, I will believe the witness over the police. Nobody was charged with perjury or assault for that. Nobody was fired or even disciplined as far as I can tell. As such, that police department is a violent gang of criminals and cannot be trusted.
Clean up your $#!+ or be tainted with it.
Speaking of taint, Iâve also heard that Wilsonâs first job was with a police force that had to be completely disbanded because of ongoing racial issues:
So, I donât know if heâs a racist⌠but if not, he sure isnât doing a good job standing up against it.
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